The Photograph
by Goodnight Sweet Ladies
Summary: Bart Allen finds himself bored and lonely when Wally is forced to cancel their plans for the day, so he goes in search of his favorite little green hero. Little does he know however that today is the anniversary of Marie Logan's death. Garfield may need more than just a gentle nudge from the speedster to realise that he doesn't need to mourn his loss alone. He has Bart, always.


**A/N**: Hey there, so, I'm going to have this story occurring a few years after the show, so there are slight age changes.

Both Impulse and Beast Boy are 16 here. (Simply because this may turn into a more romance oriented fic if I choose to continue with more chapters. They'll probably all just be oneshots though.)

Also, thanks for reading, and apologies it's short. Just did it to pass a few minutes while I couldn't sleep. ENJOY PEASANTS!

The rain that lashed outside the mountain could be describes as little other than oppressive. It rendered the speedsters plans of tackling his boredom with a run totally unappealing. He didn't really fancy a run in a storm on his own. He would have gladly gone if Wally had been free to come with him, but no, Kid Flash was off on a mission with Nightwing. Truth be told, that's half of what had put Impulse in such a broody mood. He couldn't really deny how much he looked up to Kid Flash. So what if he wasn't as fast as him? He was still really awesome! And he had little enough free time that it was difficult to get a hold of him to hang out for a day, so of course the one day they actually have plans to chill, stupid Dick swoops in with a stupid last minute mission... Well Fuck you Dick.

Anyway, back on topic, that left Bart bored as fuck with nothing to do. His restlessness quickly got the better of him, forcing him to throw down the empty bag of chicken whizzies he had "liberated" from Wally's shelf of the fridge and sped out of his room, in search of excitement. Unfortunately, it seemed his search was doomed to failure from the very get go. Nobody seemed free to do anything at all! Blue Beetle and Superboy were off on a mission with Ti- Err... Robin. Wonder Girl, Batgirl and Bumblebee were having some sort of girl day... So no way was he going near that mess! And Megan was with Lagoon Boy, so that ruled her out since, well... He didn't want to hang out with Lagoon Boy, did he? Oh, plus they're dating... So that might be awkward.

Wait a minute! That left Beast Boy! How could he have forgotten Garfield? Whenever he wasn't trailing Wally like his shadow he was pissing about with the green boy. He hadn't seen him all day actually. He knew he wasn't off on a mission and he wasn't with any of the others. So where the hell was that little green ball of noise? He quickly decided his best bet at finding Gar was to check with Megan. She always seemed to know where the he was and what he was up to.

This plan however, proven entirely ineffective. All Megan told him was that Gar didn't want to be disturbed today. What did she mean by that? Impulse's mind was going a mile a minute trying to work out why his little green buddy would want to be alone. Gar hated being idle almost as much as any speedster! The fucks going on with that boy? Naturally Bart raced off to find Beast Boy the old fashioned way, and as quickly as you would expect, discovered that he must be in his room, since the rest of the mountain was sadly lacking in Garfield.

"Better go get him then, the guys probably as desperate for someone to goof off with as I am!"

Garfield looked around his room with blurry eyes. The darkness was probably the only pleasant thing to be seen. He was glad he couldn't see this room. It wasn't his room... His room from all those years ago, back on the animal reserve. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve in an attempt to clear his blurry vision. He had a small candle lit near his bed which just cast enough light for him to see the photo in his hands. As he looked down at the smiling faces in the photo his eyes were once again clouded with tears. He didn't bother trying to stop them streaming down his face. There was no stopping it. More would just replace any he wiped away. He looked once more at his mother's smiling face as she held him close in the photo and smiled at how happy they both looked then. But that only made it hurt all the more to think that the photo had been taken on that day, many years ago, on the morning of the day that he lost his mother forever. On the morning of Marie Logan's death.

_A young Garfield stood, completely frozen, as his empty gaze was fixed on the tragedy before him. The jeep was upside down, smoking. The coppery smell of blood filled his nose. He couldn't move an inch. This much be some sick daydream, or nightmare. There is no way he could really be seeing this. "Mom..." The word came out as a choked whisper, strangled by the sob that was building in him. Slowly, he inched towards the wreck that was once a vehicle. The silent tears continued to fall as he approached what was left of the driver's door. A glance in confirmed the boys worst fears. Inside hung the now lifeless body of Marie Logan. That was the point when Garfield broke down. His legs gave way beneath him as his body fell in a crumpled heap to the ground, and his once silent tears were replaced by wretched sobs that were desperately torn from his throat as his eyes remained fixed on the horror before him. His mother was dead. The only one who had ever loved him, his only family was now dead. He was all alone. He held her body close as his tormented wails were thrown up to the heavens, as flocks of birds lined the trees, seeming to mourn with the shaking little boy._

"I'm sorry mom... I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you... I let you down, and I miss you so much! I'm so sorry... So, so sorry."

Garfield was interrupted from his thoughts when an abrupt knock on his door boomed through the silence of his room. He sniffled and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, however they were replaced by more just as quickly.

"Not now Megan" he called out "I told you I just want to be alone today. I'll be fine."

"Totally not your big sis here dude" Came the speedster's reply, "Feelin' the mode though that you think I have a girly knock!" He called back with mock hurt evident in his voice.

Despite everything, Beast Boy couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. Bart could always make him smile, no matter what was going on around him. That ever present cheeky grin was just too infectious. Unfortunately today he just couldn't hold onto that smile.

"I just want to be alone Bart... Find someone else to chill with today."

"No way dude, nobody else I want to see. Just you I'm afraid!" His voice floated through the door, light with amusement. Beast Boy sighed, closing his eyes gently, clutching the picture a little tighter, "Just... Not today Bart. Just not today..."

At this point Bart grew worried. He leaned in a little closer to the door, and for the first time it dawned on him that there might be something really wrong with Garfield. He was always so happy and energetic, that this sudden change was really out of character, and really worried Bart.

"Hey... Gar... Are you okay in there? You wanna open the door for me?"

"No Bart. Just leave me alone"

Unfortunately for Beast Boy, Impulse was now worried enough that his stubbornness had kicked in. There was no way he was leaving until he was sure his best friend was alright, and so he wasted no time vibrating right through the door. As soon as he was inside the room, his eyes fell on Garfield. His heart sank when he saw the boy, sitting in the middle of his bed, crying. The sight was heartbreaking. Someone so innocently beautiful should never be reduced to tears. Never.

Bart slowly walked over to the bed, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, wondering how he should proceed. He had never been the best at dealing with this kind of thing. Despite this however, he was determined to help his friend, so no matter what Gar said he absolutely refused point blank to leave until he talked to him about what was wrong.

Eventually, Gar sighed in defeat and bowed his head to stare at his photo. He knew there was no hope of winning this argument. He had no choice but to tell his persistent friend what was going on. So that's what he did. He told Bart everything. He told him what day it was, the anniversary of his mothers death, and showed him the tear stained photo he had kept in his death grip up to this point. Bart looked at the pair in the photo. He saw how happy little Garfield was, with his mother's arms wrapped around him in a protective and loving embrace. It was a beautiful photo of a wonderful memory in the boys life, but the tears that dotted the picture now showed how painful it was for Garfield to look at the face of his mother, just hours before she was taken away from him so cruelly.

Beast Boy felt the bed shift as a weight was added near the edge of it, and felt Bart's hand rest gently on his knee.

"Gar... Man, I am so sorry. I didn't know what today was, and I should have. I should have known about such a big day in my best friends life. But if I had known, that wouldn't have stopped me coming here, you know. It would just mean that I'd have been here hours ago. Friends have to be there for each other, so come on, let me be here for you."

At this, Garfield lifted his head, his big, sad, tear filled eyes meeting Bart's own eyes, causing the speedsters breath to catch in his throat. In the blink of an eye, Gar found himself pulled to Bart's chest and held in a firm embrace. As Bart pulled Beast Boy into a more comfortable position, without once breaking the embrace, he began to nuzzle his face into the green boys hair and whisper comforting words to him,

"I'm here for you Gar, you know that right? I'll always be here. No matter what, I'll be here. And I'll do anything to make things better."

_"Damn speedsters"_ Garfield thought to himself, _"Why do they have to be so affectionate... And sweet... And nice..."_

And just like that, there was nothing he could do but break down once again, only this time he wasn't crying alone. This time he was crying in the arms of his friend, who held him close and whispered sweet words to him, soothing him without discouraging his tears. Bart continued to hold him, until his tears dried and he couldn't cry anymore.

Despite himself, Beast Boy couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed that he had cried all over his supersonic friend.

"Uh... Bart... I'm sorry, for like, crying on you and stuff... I mean, I, uh... I didn't mean to..."

"Gar shut up, you have nothing to apologise for, trust me." replied Impulse, without letting go of the green hero. "You know I love you, and that means being here for you through stuff like this."

Beast Boy couldn't suppress the blush that rose to his cheeks at that. It was rare to hear Impulse speak with such emotion, he felt almost privileged that it was him that got to hear it. He knew there was no way to put into words how much he appreciated Bart saying that, and genuinely meaning it, so he had to show him.

"Thank you so much Bart. Just... Thank you." The green boy quickly followed this with a bone crushing hug, a desperate attempt to convey just how much the other boy really meant to him in that moment. Even that could never suffice.

Bart looked down at Garfield as he returned the hug. He was simply transfixed by the sight. He couldn't take his eyes off the perfect face of the green hero hugging him. When Garfield began to pull back and looked into Bart's eyes again, he lost control completely, and, living up to his name entirely, acted on impulse and planted a quick kiss on Garfield's nose. When both boys realised what had just happened, they found matching blushes adorning their faces.

"Ah... Gar, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... Y'know... Do... On... Well, today, and... Bad timing and all that... And I'm so-"

He was abruptly cut off when Beast Boy delivered a quick peck to his lips. "No apologies needed." Gar giggled in response to the blush on Bart's face.

"Noted."

The two spent the rest of the day together in that room. Gar sat in Bart's lap, leaning back against his chest while looking at his picture, reminiscing about all the good times with his mom on the animal reserve. He told Bart all his favourite stories of his adventures as a kid, helping his mother care for the huge array of animals on their reserve. Throughout the whole day, Bart kept Garfield laughing and thinking about the happy memories with his mom, helping him to focus on celebrating her life rather than simply mourning her death. Now, the tears that streamed down his green face were as much tears of joy that he had been blessed with such a wonderful mother as they were tears of sadness at her loss.

Eventually Bart went and brought dinner to the room for the two of them back to the room and, as always, reduced Garfield to laughter with both the quantity of food he ate and the speed at which he devoured it.

Bart took care of Garfield all day, until he finally fell asleep cuddled into the speedsters side, snoring gently, cheeks still damp with tears, a gentle smile on his lips with the picture of his mom still held in one hand.

This was just about the only thing that could get Bart Allen to lie still for hours at a time.


End file.
